Officials investigating arson at vacant Bridgewater buildings

Arson investigators are seeking what caused a fire that gutted two vacant buildings in Bridgewater early Tuesday morning.

Benjamin Paulin The Patriot Ledger @BPaulin_Ledger

BRIDGEWATER – Beverly Ensher-Albaugh said she went outside her Broad Street home about 1 a.m., Tuesday and saw flames over 100 feet tall shooting up in the air.

“It was bright orange and you could feel the heat. Everything was orange. The whole thing was up in flames,” Ensher-Albaugh, 80, said.

Two vacant buildings across the street, a 10-unit apartment building and a two-family home, were engulfed in flames. The heat from the blaze melted the plastic siding on Ensher-Albaugh’s home.

“If the wind had been blowing a different way it could have caught my house on fire,” she said.

The two properties, at 76-78 Broad St. and 86 Broad St., are owned by Hanover developer Jim Paskell and are part of a multi-million-dollar proposal to turn the properties into residential and commercial spaces. Calls for comment to Paskell’s home were not returned Tuesday.

Officials said the fire is suspicious and arson investigators are working to determine the cause. They did not have any suspects as of Tuesday morning.

Bridgewater Fire Chief George Rogers said firefighters responded to an arson attempt inside 76-78 Broad St. two weeks ago.

“It looks like somebody got into the building and attempted to burn the building in several locations, at least six locations,” Rogers said.

Fearing the arsonist would strike again, the fire department visited the building Monday afternoon as a precaution to discuss what their plan would be if someone were to successfully set the building ablaze.

“They came down here yesterday (Monday) and pre-planned, if we had a fire, this is what we’re going to do. Eight-10 hours later we’re here,” Rogers said.

When firefighters first arrived Tuesday morning flames were already ripping through both buildings. Within 10 minutes of responding Rogers had struck a fourth-alarm.

Residents on both sides of the street were evacuated as a precaution, Rogers said.

“There were embers landing on the houses two houses down,” he said. “It was pretty labor-intensive right out of the gate. But once we got settled in, we stopped it from spreading to other homes.”

One firefighter suffered a minor leg injury and was taken to the hospital and was treated and released.

The State Fire Marshal and State Police are assisting Bridgewater authorities in investigating the blaze.

Both buildings are considered a total loss. According to the Bridgewater assessor’s office, the land and buildings on both properties were valued at a total of $527,300.